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December 08, 2011

Terrorist or freedom fighter?

07 December 2011
Brahumdagh Bugti is in his native Pakistan as the most sought-after man throws him against the government terrorist activities. Bugti sees himself as a politician who fights for the independence of the province of Baluchistan. For a year of very rich 30-year-old clan leader lives in Geneva and has applied for asylum in Switzerland. A tricky case for Switzerland. His first TV interview in the Times.

Brahumdagh Bugti lived for a year as a refugee with his family in Geneva. For the Pakistani government, he is a terrorist - he sees himself as a politician who fights for the independence of the province of Baluchistan, as he explains in the "Rundschau".

The Swiss authorities are faced with a difficult decision. You do not want to comment on the case Bugti.

In his first TV interview in exile, presents the 30-year-old Bugti Brahumdagh the "Rundschau" as a smart man in Western dress. The clan leader has a political mission: He wants to put grievances in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in the pillory.

Baluchistan is the largest and poorest region of Pakistan at the same time - despite its rich oil and gas reserves. "We are fighting for our resources, the land and our property," says Bugti. "But when we talk about it, we are abducted and tortured by the government." Even human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced the persecution of dissidents.

From politicians to insurgents hunted

The abuses in his country he was fighting with the weapons of politics, says Bugti in "Rundschau" interview. For this purpose he had founded the Baloch Republican Party.

Already Brahumdaghs grandfather was a charismatic politician Akbar Bugti once sat several times in the central government in Islamabad and there represented the interests of Baluchistan. Then he fell into disgrace and was chased by the army as insurgents.


Several times he and his grandson were the target of attacks. "Once they were poorly informed and blew up the wrong house in the air," says Brahumdagh Bugti. "Someone said, that is Bugtis house, but I moved recently."

Delicate case for Swiss authorities

Brahumdaghs grandfather was killed in 2006 on the run from army units. The grandson fled to Afghanistan and went into hiding for four years. Finally, he fled to Switzerland with false papers.

In Geneva requested the scion of the immensely rich Bugti clans for himself and his family asylum.

For the Swiss authorities is likely to be a tricky case. But they give to the individual asylum procedure no information.Migration expert Alberto Achermann is convinced that the case is not treated simply as an ordinary asylum. "This is probably a case which is treated in the Federal Office for Migration on a higher level and to which one obtains the opinion of the FDFA and the Federal Office of Police and the Federal Intelligence Service," says the Professor of Migration Law, University of Bern.

Terrorist or political rebel?

Bugti's political terrorist or rebel? Research by the "Rundschau" Brahumdagh Bugti to give a mixed picture: So Bugti shows on the Internet as an armed resistance fighters.Or is he posing amid rocket-propelled grenades. "He's not really a political leader," said Saifullah Mahsud, political observers in Islamabad, in the "Rundschau". "It was only during the attack on his famous grandfather. At that time he led the military wing of the separatists. "

In contrast to the Baloch Republican Party, the Baloch Republican Army is regarded as militant secession. Bugti explains: "These two organizations have nothing to do with each other. Coincidentally, the names are very similar. I was never involved in violent actions. "

Doubts about this statement can pay an interview that Bugti was in 2005 a local TV station. Yahya Bajwa, a Swiss of Pakistani descent and a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, presents this interview in the "Rundschau": "Bugti said that the liberation struggle must be waged by all means. If the government does not otherwise hear, even with rocket launchers. "

Moral argument for asylum refusal

Whether Pakistan has issued a request for extradition, the Swiss Justice Department wants to "neither confirm nor deny." An extradition would be possible only after Switzerland had finally decided on the asylum application. If Bugti war crimes or serious crimes committed common law would probably denied him asylum, says migration expert at the University of Bern, Alberto Achermann.

"But if it is dealing with political crimes, then such a person would need to be recognized as a refugee in Switzerland."

Switzerland has also a special feature: If someone committed morally reprehensible acts, it can be regarded as unworthy of asylum. Nevertheless, he would not be deported. "The consequence would be a provisional, temporary admission to Switzerland," says Achermann.

Brahumdagh Bugti hopes for a swift decision. "I just want my life and my family is protected, that's the important thing."